Resiliently interconnected aileron and rudder control system for aircraft



Aug. 8, 1950 E. J. HORKEY RESILIENTLY INTERCONNECTED AILERON AND RUDDER CONTROL SYSTEM FOR AIRCRAFT Filed Oct. 2s, 1946 Patented Aug. 8, 1950 {RESILI ENTLf inTERcoNnEb'rEngAILERON HAND RUDDER' coN'mo H'SYSTEM "FOR.

, .;-l;yEdward-J.Bowen-Rolling Hi1 ls, -Oalif.,assignor t Nort me iat m c-v Application'ii ctolier 2s, 1e4 Serial No. 705,907

w' fiiclaims (011244-1183) This invention relates to control means for {of wheels'l and 2 for dual control.: :These wheels aircraft and particularly to rudder-andaileron are rotatablymounted in a conventional mancontrol means resilientlyinterconnected so-that n'e'r'on a control column and associated structure "operation of one affects operation of the other referred to generally as 3; The wheels are-posiltoa'desired degree. tively interconnected by means of a chain" 4 Attempts have beenmade in'the past to posimeshing with sprockets 5 and fizwhich in turn tively'inte'rconnect aileron and rudder controls. are rigidly attached respectively to wheels I and Such arrangements have been'regarded as" un- '2. Attached'to the ends of the chain 4-are consatisfactory 'mainly because it prevents indetrolxcables 1 and 8 which pass over; suitable pendent rudder and-'aileroncontrol. It-is-thre- '10 pulleys 9, 10; H, and 9', l2, lirespectiv'elyto fore an object of this invention to provide an 'bell' cranks "l4 and I5 operativelyiassoeiated in interconnected"rudderand aileron control 'sysax-conventional manner with ailerons J6; and'fil'l. *temwhich providesthe benefits o'f'anintercon- 'It' iseto be understood that the controlrcolumn nected'system" and yet permits independent rud'-' maybe mounted for tilting movement aboutia horizontal axis in a conventional manner to: op;-

d'e'r and aileron control operation. 1

I't is a further object ot-this "invention to pro- 'erate elevatorcontrol means. That-arrangement vide aileron and rudder control means w'hichare is .not illustrated. since .-it forms-:no pertinent independently operable and 'yetfare' interconpartoftheipresentinvention. V J' ne'c'ted to the extent that 'operatio n of -one in- .rOperatively-associated with the controlwheel fl'uences the operation .of theother in" a prede- 1 .15 a set of rudder control pedals l8;and; I9 for .ter'min'ed manner. 5 l use by one pilot; Another set of control-pedals Itis-a further object otthis invention to pro- '20. and 2|. is associated with wheel 2.-for use by vide contr Olmea'n s wh-i ch promotes-stability of the other pilot. Pedals l8 and 20 are connected :aircraft" in flight and particularly as the same in 'a'conventional manner by rod 22 while pedals maybeinfiuencedby the "o p'eration of the rudder -:IB a'ndl'2l are; similarly connected by T011323. o'r'the ailerons. Rod 23 has :rigidly attached thereto an arm 24,

.ip'tltiis'a further object oftlns invention' to to the other -;end of Whichis connected rudder ivide' control m'eans which'insures lateral stability :cable 25. Cable 25 is pivotally attached to an and-hasimproved 's'pin recovery characteristics. end of link 26 which in turn is mounted for 1:: It isi'a further objection-this invention to pro- 30 :pivotal mcvementat 21 andhas attached at the -vide ai-control.meansnwhichvavoidsthe exercise other. end thereof an end of; the other rudder .of excessive or OVGT-COl'lt-IOlfOl'CGSLMEIZIfPL t 1 b] -2a Cabl -28i tum i n cted Itis aiurth'eriobject: of :this-invntionzto' pro to rod 22 by means of an arm 29. Cables .251 and itI-id'e'LresiIiently interconnectedsaileron' andzr'ud' 28'. arei'conn'ected at their opposite :ends to an der controls,each controlofwhich;upon release. 5 arm.3ll rigidly attached to rudderillforoperats tends 'to bring the otherii to azneut'ral: position, ingthesame.

thereby resulting ina'quick control-freezrecovery. Rigidlyattached at one end to cables land si'TIIt is still a further object of this -invention'to 8 bymeans of clamps 3| and 32, respectively are provide an interconnected aileron andhrudder interconnecting cables 33 and 34. .The other :cohtrol system which is particularly'efiectiveat .ends of. cables 33 and 34 are resiliently attached :critical lowtspeed conditions to. stabilizezan'iair- ,tof. rudder control cables 25' and 28'. by similar -plane"in various angleslof. sideslip.- :arrangements-oneof which isshown in-detail 2 It. is vyet another object of this'invention-to inFig. 2.

provide an interconnected. aileron "and rudder .Referring to, thatyfigure,"v cable 34 is 3301113101.- systemwhich makesgiitzpossible to .ma-

in asuitable manner tova strap 36, connected neuver the airplane either. withthe-ailerons and to. a separable block 3.! in which. cable =elevators alone, or conversely with :the rudders i'freely slidable'. Strap 36 is attached to-the block --and. Ielevators-alone. J. .f, 1.1; and-the two parts of the block held inassembled .1. ..In the'drawing, -1 i, uposition asshown in. Fig. 2 by means of. bolts Fig. '1 is aiifdiagrammaticiarrangementiof.:.the 38i-andy39 asrillustrated. Strap 36.15 provided .invention as appliedx-toansairplane rigged for witha -:loop' 40 to whichis attachedone end :of sdual controls, and. 2-

- 1; 1k a spring M. The other end of the spring is atiszan elevational viewtofgmeans'for'intertached to'aconnector 42. whichinturn fastens .-.c'onne'ctin"g the: aileronL-andrudder cdntrolcables. together the. two parts 28and 28, :of the-rudder Referrinatothedrawing.ithere isrshownfa pair :controlcable; Y

It is to be understood that cables 33, 25 and 25' are connected to spring 43 in identically the same manner as cables 34, 2B and 28' respectively are connected to spring 4|.

In the operation of the device the aileron and rudder control cables-resiliently interconnected through pre-tensioned springs 4| and 43are each responsive to the operation of the other. Thus rotation of the control Wheel I results in tensioning of cable 1 or 8 depending upon whether the rotation is to the right or to the left. Tensioning of cable '1 or 8 in turn operates ailerons IG and H by means of bell cranks l4 and IS and cable 49 interconnecting these bell cranks in a conventional manner. However, in accordance with the teachingsof the invention and particularly by meansof cables .33 and 34 and their connections to the rudder control cables, the rudder is caused to move by operation of one or other of the wheels which normally operates theailerons. The amount of movement may be pr'e-"regulated by selection "of springs --4| :and 43. Wheel control of the rudder may be neutralized or overcome byindependent rudder control action by operation of either of pedals I8 and I9 or 2B and 2|. Thus it may be seen'that operation of the rudder may correspond with operation of the aileron to a predetermined extent or it may be entirely dependent by operation'through the rudder control pedals.

More specifically, operation of the rudder is aifected 'by the aileron control wheel as follows: R'otation of either of the control wheels 'to'the righttresults in tensioning cable I, which in turn raises aileron l6 and correspondinglylowers aileron I! through cables 49 and'8. .Tensioning :of cable I likewise tensions cable 33 and-spring 43, which in turn urges'rudder 5|! :toaposition 'ofzright rudder. The rudder willmove inuresponse to the force transmitted through spring 43 un- -l-esssuch force is modified by operationofeither of the left rudder pedals l9 or 2|. Rotation :of either of the control wheels to the lett i-plac'es 'a'tensionforce on cable 8 to raise aileron :I'Land lower aileron =|6 and also move rudder Ellto the .le'ft through application (if-tension .to cable 34 and spring 4|. The force exerted through spring '41 may likewise be modified "by 'op'erati'onof either of the right rudder pedals E8 or 28 It is to :be understood, or course, that the TfOI'CB :cnteither spring '41 Or =43 may be augmented by suitable *operation of the rudder pedals if such action is desired.

:Operation of the ailerons also .is iaflected'tby operation of the rudder pedals .in .-the"following manner: Pressure on either of the-rright rudder ipedals 18 or 20 results in tensioning 0f cable $0 move rudder 50 to .the right. This will in turn exert a force through lever 3B,:cab1e28', spring-4|, and cable :34 to exert aeten'sile force through cable 8 and the control wheel mechanism to cable I andbell crank I4 to raiseaileron 1B and through cable 49 and bell crank IE to :lower aileron I 7. In a similar manner, pressure-on e'ither of the left rudder pedals will tran'smit a '2 and in normal operations the controls tendatzall W5 the airplane.

. .pilot.

.the left wing which, in the condition of present side-slip, is the leading wing.

,, Prior to tliisrinvention it has been possible to obtain this condition with a force so slight thatthe pilot could not judge its amount. This has resulted in manyinstances in poor control of However, following the teaching .of the. invention, it .has been found that the force applied by the interconnect spring results in obtaining this condition and at the same time efiect a force on the controls to obtain what is commonly referred to as pilot feel whereby a condition of lateral stability is indicated to :the When the right rudder is depressed in the maneuver it .is :to be understood of course that the wheel tends to rotate to the right and .to overcome the force exerted from the spring 4| it .is necessary to rotate the wheel to the left. This is the essence of stability in that a definite .force must be exerted by the pilot to change the heading, bank angle, or altitude oftheairplane.

I ,Recoveryirom a. side-slip condition .is obtained by --merely relaxing the .force exerted *onrrthe .whee-l-and rudder to allow the controls to return to normal position. The airplane thereupon .returnsto a .levelflat condition, stable, and in equilibrium.

In the event of a spin, recovery may beefiected .as follows: If :the spin is to the right the rudder tendsto trail off to the right because-of the direction of the rotation of the spin. -In recovering, the pilotreturns the rudder either to neutral or to the full oppositelposition=which,-in the present situation, :would be full left'rudder. With the interconnecting system, according toithe teaching of this invention, the aileronstend' to float either toneutral or, at such positionas toreturn :th'e .rudderwautomatic'ally to neutral or -;to some positionrof-left deflection. With the usual scpa- -rate controls the pilot normally gperiorms :iour consecutive or simultaneous steps with :the rudder and aileronzzcontrols:to-come out of .1a :sp'in,

while with the "present resilient "interconnection thegsame result :may. be accomplished with :either .the'irudder or the wheel in two steps.

Itis readily understood that the present interconnecting controls permit design of an airplane for .improved .high speed ilateral stability. In the usual situatiomtincreasing thei'dihedral to obtain better :stability :is satisfactory for low speeds,;but at .highuspeeds. such design .interfereswvith the maneuverability :of ithei plane. The present rarrangement obtains :the advantage of :high speed operationbf :the other; permits:5flying the rship in: normal flight simply .by operating either "the wheel or the rudder controls, the :control' force not rpositively operated Jfollowing:..automatically.

It is :to :be understood: that the showing. 11in Fig; :1 us :diagrammatic :and that ":partsxsuch as control wheels, rudder pedals. ailerons,.rudder, pulleys, and the like, are suitably supported in accordance with conventional design, these -not being illustrated since they do not form a part of the present invention. I

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of this invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claim.

I claim:

In an aircraft having ailerons and a. rudder, means for operating said ailerons including a wheel and cable means operatively connecting said wheel to said ailerons, means for independently operating said rudder including pedals and cables operatively connecting said pedals to said rudder, and means directly resiliently interconnecting said rudder and aileron cables to effect a desired movement of the rudder upon movement of the aileron control means ora desired movement of the ailerons upon operation of the rudder control means; said interconnecting means and at the other end of each of saidguideway members.

EDWARD J. HORKE-Y.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,196,385 De Florez et al Apr. 9, 1940 2,318,833 Stambach May 11, 1943 2,340,237 Upson Jan. 25, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS I Number Country Date 323,881 Germany Aug. 11, 1920 

